Cathay group cargo volume drops 14pc in August to 161,394 tonnes

HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon declared that its August cargo volume declined 14 per cent year on year to 161,394 tonnes.

The cargo and mail load factor fell by 7.5 percentage points to 60.9 per cent. Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was down by 0.6 per cent while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) dropped by 11.6 per cent.

In the first eight months of 2019, the tonnage fell by 7.1 per cent against a 0.8 per cent increase in capacity and a 7.2 per cent decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2018.

onnage further deteriorated month-to-month across all regions, driven in particular by slow demand over the holiday season in different parts of the world, the effects of tropical storms and disruptions at Hong Kong International Airport," said chief commercial officer Ronald Lam.

"Ongoing geopolitical tensions continued to affect overall market sentiment. Nevertheless, our outlook for September is slightly more positive and we expect to see demand progressively improve, driven by project shipments and the restocking of inventory as we enter the traditionally high-demand season,?he said.There was also and 11.3 per cent year-on-year drop in August passenger volume to 2,906,954. Passenger load factor decreased by 7.2 percentage points to 79.9 per cent, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), rose by 5.1 per cent.

In the first eight months of 2019, the number of passengers carried grew by 2.2 per cent and capacity increased by 6.5 per cent, as compared to the same period for 2018.

Said Mr Lam: "We remain optimistic in the medium term. The strong commitment to our brand and customer experience remains unchanged. Our investments in new aircraft and enhancing the customer experience will continue, giving travellers more reasons to fly with us.?

China continues pressure, probes Cathay's empty oxygen bottles

HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways. which showed too much sympathy for protesters at the big airport demonstration August 12 for Beijing's liking, is under investigation by Chinese regulators after emergency oxygen bottles on three flights were found depleted or completely empty, reports Bloomberg.

Cathay officials said it was highly unusual for so many oxygen bottles on three flights were found to be depleted or empty.

Cabin crew from the flights have been grounded so they can help with the probe, Cathay told staff in a memo. As well as the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Hong Kong authorities and local police are also investigating, the note said.

Pre-flight inspections discovered 13 oxygen canisters - designed to be used by crew in an emergency depressurisation of the cabin - that were partially or fully discharged, Cathay said.

The inquiry is another headache for the airline's new chief executive officer, Augustus Tang, weeks after Chinese regulators threatened to bar Cathay from the mainland because some staff supported the Hong Kong protests.

Cathay warns of 'significant impact' to revenue from unrest, as cargo dips 8pc in July

HONG Kong's Cathay Pacific Group carried 169,720 tonnes of cargo and mail in July, a drop of 8.2 per cent compared to the same month last year, the company revealed.

In announcing last month's combined traffic figures for Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon, Cathay's chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam explained that the recent events in Hong Kong over the past two months did not substantially impact the two airlines' passenger business in July, "however, we anticipate a much more significant impact to our revenue in August and onwards.

"Traffic into Hong Kong, both business and leisure, has weakened substantially and we've also now seen ex-Hong Kong traffic starting to soften, especially on our short-haul network including mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea and South East Asia."

The cargo and mail load factor of Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon fell by 7.2 percentage points to 63.1 per cent. Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was up 0.8 per cent while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) dropped 9.4 per cent.

In the first seven months of 2019, the tonnage fell by 6.1 per cent against a one per cent increase in capacity and a 6.6 per cent decrease in RFTKs.

"Our cargo business continued to face headwinds with market sentiment softening across the board," said Mr Lam.

"Indeed, South Asia was the only sales region where we still saw tonnage growth compared to the previous month and year. While the market outlook remains uncertain, we continue to be vigilant as we work to mitigate the impact on our business.

The two airlines carried a total of 3,278,742 passengers last month - an increase of 4 per cent compared to July 2018.

The passenger load factor decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 86.1 per cent, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased 7.2 per cent.

In the first seven months of 2019, the number of passengers carried grew 4.4 per cent while capacity increased 6.7 per cent.

Commenting on the passenger figures, Mr Lam said: "Passenger demand was strong in the first half of the summer peak while load factors also remained high. Especially pleasing were our India and Taiwan services, which have continued to perform well.

"As anticipated, however, yield remained under pressure due to intense competition and increasing transit passenger traffic, and our North America, Europe and mainland China routes under performed as a result."

AIRLINES based in Asia Pacific suffered a 7.7 per cent drop in air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), in July compared to the same month last year on the back of lower export volumes and ongoing weakness in the region's air cargo markets, data compiled by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed.

AAPA was cited as saying in a report by London's Air Cargo News that "mounting trade tensions, alongside deteriorating business confidence levels" contributed to further decreases in orders for goods.

"The markedly lower demand, coupled with almost flat expansion in offered freight capacity, by 0.4 per cent, led to a 5.2 percentage point decline in the average international freight load factor, to 58.9 per cent for the month," the association said.

In contrast, the AAPA's member airlines saw international air passenger demand continue to rise in July, with passenger numbers up 3.4 per cent year on year to total 32.5 million.

Commenting on the air cargo results, AAPA director general Andrew Herdman said that global trade conditions deteriorated further, "as higher tariffs disrupted global supply chains, and Asian airlines saw international air cargo demand fall by 6.2 per cent during the first seven months of the year."

He added: "The weakness in air cargo markets is likely to extend into the coming months, unless we see some meaningful progress in trade negotiations."

HKIA airfreight volume down 7pc in July

AIR cargo throughput at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) fell by 7.3 per cent year on year in July to 401,000 tonnes on the back of 12 per cent declines in both imports and transshipment volumes.

Among Hong Kong's key trading partners, cargo traffic to and from Southeast Asia and North America decreased most significantly. However, July's decline seems to be reflective of the wider sustained downturn in the global airfreight market, reports London's Air Cargo News.

Over the first seven months of the year, HKIA handled 2.7 million tonnes of freight, a fall of 6.8 per cent compared to the same period of last year.

And on a 12-month rolling basis, cargo throughput up to the end of July amounted to 5 million tonnes, a decrease of 4.1 per cent year on year.

This month (August) has seen protests at HKIA, with demonstrators clashing with police inside the airport. Though these clashes appear to have had a relatively limited effect on cargo throughput, there is a concern that any sustained problems at the gateway might affect HKIA's well-deserved reputation as a cargo hub of global significance.